Where have you been all summer? In all likelihood, not far. Upstate, maybe? Wales? The end of the garden, if you have one? The holidays, however, are over. September is here and it means business. So, like the fellows below, you’d better be dressed for it.

In truth, the last time we were here to report on the most presentable men to saunter beyond the confines of their own homes was some months ago. However, to quote Alvin and the Chipmunks (don’t say we haven’t put our lockdown to good use), “it’s been a while, but we’re back with style”.

Of course, fashions change, and we all suddenly have added accessories to contend with – the face mask, for example, is something new to many of us. But you know who managed to take those first tentative steps outside the house this summer, and did so with enough panache to put a cheeky, squeaky rodent to shame? The seven guys shown here, that’s who.

At least we are led to believe that this is Mr Chris Pine, star of the Star Trek and Wonder Woman franchises. To be honest, it could be anyone. But, hot damn, this masked avenger (not an actual Avenger; different comic-book universe) cuts a fine figure in the LA heat. This look is like an exuberant round of Consequences, with the head of the Lone Ranger, the torso of Ms Carole Baskin and the black jeans of one of the Strokes (a Stroke, if you will). Not to mention the arch support of a pair of Birkenstocks, which at least match the hat. On paper, as an outfit, it shouldn’t work. But, hey, technically bumblebees shouldn’t be able to fly and look at those guys go.

If the previous photograph captured a fit that perhaps couldn’t have happened before Covid-19, the one directly above demonstrates a menswear trend that was still in its infancy prior to lockdown. The cropped trousers championed by the likes of Mr Thom Browne have held firm since the early 2000s, but with designers leaning into the aesthetics of the 1970s over recent seasons, hems have been dropping lower and lower. Here, the Italian new-wave singer-songwriter Mr Motta trawls the decade with this superlative suit (by Gucci, obviously) in a rich burgundy. The shirt is tucked in but artfully unbuttoned, while the sunglasses tap into that rock heritage, especially since it doesn’t appear to actually be that sunny where he is. But it’s the generous trousers that steal the show. Them’s the breaks.

Prior to 2020, the idea of 22 professional basketball teams being held in isolation at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, might sound like the plot to some half-baked YA sci-fi franchise. And yet here we are, the “NBA Bubble”. Above, Houston Rockets point guard Mr James Harden proves that the sartorial decisions being made between playoffs go beyond retro 2Pac tees and fishing gear, seemingly the favoured dress code of the Bubble, with a fetching two-piece, tie-dye sweat suit. The player’s Zeus-level beard is beyond the reach of your standard disposable mask, hence he’s opted for a snood. The slides-and-pristine-socks one-two shows flagrant disregard for the puddles, and we have to admire Mr Harden’s optimism.

Back in peak lockdown, when excursions outside were limited to only essential trips, dogs had never had it so good. Even owners who would typically barely look at their leads were suddenly compelled to take their canine companions on extensive expeditions, if just as an excuse to get out of the house. Of course, Scout, above, was quite the dog about town even before quarantine, having famously gatecrashed the Golden Globe afterparties back in January. But, shown here with Mr Karl Glusman in New York, he doesn’t seem to be suffering the Covid paunch that some of us find ourselves afflicted with. Mr Glusman, meanwhile, teams square sunglasses with a printed shirt featuring accents in a similar shade. The hoodie (with red trim, a neat touch) and Jordan Brand trackpants help subdue the bold pattern. While off-duty, this is a well-thought-out ensemble, and the mask, that fearful symbol of our strange times, here becomes the cherry on the cake.

More lessons in co-ords from the NBA Bubble. This time, Mr Kyle Kuzma of the Los Angeles Lakers wears a shirt and shorts that on most of us would be deemed brave, but here blend with the player’s own body art; if we could line up patterned wallpaper this precisely, we’d consider our work done. The sneakers cleverly bring the look down to earth with a simple, textured cream tone. The mask, meanwhile, comes from his own line, Childhood Dreams, which seems rather like dystopian irony in this context. Playful, colourful, but, most importantly, worn with confidence, this is casual power dressing from the power forward.

As with any competitive sport, often the mind games that happen around basketball are as important as what happens on court. By sticking hundreds of the most driven players in a pressure cooker in a theme park, tension is bound to build up, and perhaps nowhere is this better captured than in the clothing being worn. Here, Canadian guard Mr Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is out to prove that monochrome doesn’t have to be monosyllabic. Now, we’ve heard about “flies” and “the seat of your pants”, but webs slung over hips and knees is new to us (the “Editorial Department” motif makes us think this should be standard issue in the MR PORTER office). Our spider sense suggests these trousers wouldn’t look quite so cropped on someone under 6ft 5in in height.

As you might expect from a man whose 2017 film Call Me By Your Name has since become a standard bearer for summer style, Mr Luca Guadagnino knows how to dress for the season. Rocking up to this year’s Venice Film Festival – at a safe distance, of course – he wore an all-natural combination of jacket and trousers with adidas tennis shoes (and mask in hand). The wide collar of the Baracuta-style Harrington suggests a Mr Steve Bannon-like double-shirt affair, although the pop of colour underneath more than makes up for this.

The people featured in this story are not associated with and do not endorse MR PORTER or the products shown